‘ Rash’ put girl in coma
A MOTHER has told how her six- year- old daughter nearly died after her “chicken pox rash” turned out to be a horrific reaction to Covid- 19.
Millie Denvers started feeling unwell on December 12 after several people in her class had chicken pox – within days she was in an induced coma.
Mum Elizabeth, 36, said she was at first concerned that the spots she thought were chicken pox were not blistering, and called her GP three days after Millie felt poorly.
She was advised to call for an ambulance and Millie was admitted to Worthing hospital and then transferred to Southampton hospital, where she remained in an induced coma for two days.
Staff at Worthing hospital told Elizabeth and dad Glen, 40, that Millie had a condition called Pims- TS – paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome – a reaction to Covid.
Elizabeth said: “I was really freaking out. At first they could see that she had an infection somewhere, but they couldn’t work it out. They hadn’t seen this before.
“The Pims- TS attacks all the organs and bone marrow. Her kidneys were very damaged. Only five per cent of children who carry Covid get it.
“Her heart rate was really high and they said Southampton hospital were coming to collect her, to put her to sleep to give her organs a rest and help her body recover.”
Elizabeth stayed in Southampton for eight days while Millie recovered and Glen looked after Millie’s sisters Elsie, nine, and Felicity, 12 at home in Steyning, West Sussex. He said: “You can’t cry when you’re on your own looking after two girls.”
Millie went home on December 23, and has recovered quickly with the help of physiotherapy.
Elizabeth said: “It was a heartbreaking relief to hear her laughing with her sisters on Christmas Eve. Worthing discharged her from their care on December 30 and it all started to sink in. I just sat and sobbed.”